Update April 3, 2020

Our office may be closed to in-person appointments, but Dr. Manfredi is available for limited virtual evaluation and consultation services, including ASD and ADHD diagnostic evaluations, screening evaluations, career assessments, and consultation services, including IEP/documentation reviews and virtual consultation meetings. Additionally, Dr. Manfredi is looking forward to completing additional training in order to continue to serve her patients and clients with services of the highest quality and integrity. Next, week, Dr. Manfredi will be completing her training on the Highlands Ability Battery, which will increase her ability to complete career assessments, both virtually and in-person (at a future date). She will also be completing training on the MIGDAS-2, a clinical interview designed to help assess for autism spectrum disorders throughout the lifespan. Dr. Manfredi is dedicated to continuously increasing her knowledge and skills to best serve her patients and clients. Please call the office at (215) 515-2388 or email us to see if a virtual evaluation or consultation service might be a good fit for you or your child.

Update March 29, 2020

The VA has allowed our office to complete mental health disability evaluations for veteran through telehealth during this pandemic. Our office will be working with Veterans Evaluation Services to schedule these appointments as soon as possible for veterans in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Our NODA platform for virtual autism spectrum disorder evaluations is now set up. We are happy to begin providing these evaluations so that services can be started without delay.

Effective March 23, 2020

The health and safety of our clients, patients, and staff is our highest priority. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused massive, unprecedented, and unpredictable disruptions to everyone’s lives and to our business and we are in the process of exploring options to continue to serve those we work with while balancing health and safety needs. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by COVID-19, their friends and family members, and the first responders and medical professionals who are putting themselves and their families at-risk everyday while fighting to save lives. As a result of this crisis, we’ve implemented the following policies and procedures. Please be aware that this list may be updated as situations and circumstances change. We invite you to follow our Facebook page, join our mailing list, or contact our office for additional information and updates.

All in-person appointments are canceled for the foreseeable future 

In order to protect the health and safety of our patients, clients, and staff, all in-person appointments are canceled indefinitely. We will provide updates about our proposed reopening as they become available. Meetings, feedback sessions, and consultation appointments will move to a telehealth platform. Our office uses Regroup Connect, which is a HIPAA-compliant version of Zoom. Testing appointments will be canceled or modified (see below).

Staff will be working remotely 

You will still be able to reach our office by calling (215) 515-2388 or sending us an email. We will do our best to respond within a timely manner, though our responses may occasionally fall outside of our normal business hours. Our postal mail is currently being forwarded.

Use of HIPAA-compliant technology platforms

Our office currently uses the following HIPAA-compliant technology platforms: Sprucehealth (for secure document transfer and communication via phone, fax, or text) and Regroup Connect (for live, virtual meetings and sessions). These platforms are all available via our home office, so you can reach us through any of these means. We will use the remote capabilities of our credit card processor, Affinipay, to collect payments securely. Dr. Manfredi is currently licensed in both Pennsylvania and Delaware, and, therefore, is eligible to provide telehealth services in both of these states. If you are in a different state, please contact us and we will determine eligibility, as many states have loosened restrictions on telehealth practices in light of the current crisis situation.

Changes to testing procedures 

Most of our testing procedures require face-to-face administration in order to ensure reliable and valid data. We also recognize that these assessments are important and critical to accessing needed supports and services. Therefore, we are exploring methods of testing that have been validated for remote administration. We will not jeopardize our clients’ and patients’ access to needed services and supports or decrease the reliability of our professional judgment and diagnostic skills by administering assessments in a non-standardized, non-validated manner. At the same time, we have found several options that may serve our needs in the interim, with the goal of follow-up with in-person evaluations when it becomes safe to do so. Therefore, we will be offering the following:

  • For autism spectrum disorder diagnostic evaluations: Our office is currently in the process of training to administer the NODA Remote Autism Assessment Platform. This platform can be used for children ages 0-7 and allows families to securely submit videos of their children to the clinician. Our office will also conduct developmental history and clinical interviews via our telehealth platform and send rating scales electronically. Once all of this data is collected, it will be analyzed by a clinician and a comprehensive report will be written within 2-3 weeks. We will then conduct a feedback session to discuss the results via telehealth. We will be offering this evaluation for $750 and expect to have appointments available starting March 30, 2020. We are hoping that these evaluations will allow families in need of ASD diagnostic evaluations in order to obtain appropriate services and supports to get these evaluations in a timely and efficient manner. If we cannot make a diagnostic determination, or have reduced confidence in our diagnostic conclusions, we will offer families the opportunity to have in-person testing to confirm conclusions when it is safe to do so and at a greatly reduced rate. Unfortunately, this platform is only validated for use for children 7 and under; our office is still investigating options for evaluations for older individuals and will update this document as these become available.
  • For attention-deficit/hyperactivity diagnostic evaluations and neuropsychological evaluations: Our office is currently in the process of training to administer the CNS Vital Signs, a neuropsychological screening measure that can be completed remotely by individuals ages 8 to 89. Our office can send you a link and you can complete the assessment on your own (approximately 30-45 minutes in length). Our office will also conduct developmental history and clinical interviews via our telehealth platform and send rating scales electronically. Once all of this data is collected, it will be analyzed by a clinician and a comprehensive report will be written within 2-3 weeks. We will then conduct a feedback session to discuss the results via telehealth. We will be offering this evaluation for $750 and expect to have appointments available starting March 30, 2020. We are hoping that these evaluations will allow families in need of diagnostic evaluations in order to obtain appropriate services and supports to get these evaluations in a timely and efficient manner. For ADHD diagnostic evaluations: If we cannot make a diagnostic determination, or have reduced confidence in our diagnostic conclusions, we will offer families the opportunity to have in-person testing to confirm conclusions when it is safe to do so and at a greatly reduced rate. For neuropsychological evaluations: We will schedule further, in-person testing when it becomes safe to do so and will apply the amount paid to that evaluation.
  • NEW OFFERING: Career assessments: For the last several months, our office has been investigating career-based assessments that can be added to our current evaluations or done as stand-alone evaluations. We often hear from our families and patients that they need help identifying an appropriate career that aligns with their unique strengths and weaknesses. While this question is very common in the general population, it is of particular concern for those with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ASDs, ADHD, or learning disabilities. Therefore, our office is currently training to administer the Highlands Ability Battery, a comprehensive battery of work samples in multiple domains that can be linked to careers for individuals ages 16 and up. This evaluation can be completed remotely and is followed by an up to 2 hour results meeting to discuss findings and possible career options, which can be done via telehealth. You will receive a copy of your results for your records. Thus, we are pleased that we will be able to offer this evaluation at this time and will begin scheduling these evaluations in mid-April 2020. Our regular rate for these evaluations will be $500; however, because this area is an expansion of our previous services, we are offering these evaluations at $350 for a limited time.
  • NEW OFFERING: Screening evaluations/consultations: Screening evaluations are brief assessments that can help to determine whether further evaluation is warranted. While they do not take the place of a comprehensive evaluation, they are nevertheless useful in the interim while in-person evaluations are not feasible. These evaluations/consultations allow our staff to review history and administer some standardized tools (e.g., rating scales or brief screeners that can be completed remotely) and determine whether further evaluation is warranted or make limited recommendations for future directions. These services are offered at our hourly assessment rate of $225/hour for all time.

District-funded Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) postponed indefinitely

At this time, we will be suspending all of our school district-funded IEEs until the referring school district reopens. Alternatively, we may decide to proceed with the evaluation under the following conditions: 1) we are able to identify validated instruments for the assessment of intellectual functioning and academic achievement that can be administered remotely; and 2) the school district agrees to allow our office to conduct these assessments remotely. Additionally, all classroom observations or in-person meetings are suspended until we determine it is safe for our staff to attend. However, we are happy to participate in meetings via telehealth, when needed.

VA disability evaluations postponed indefinitely

Dr. Manfredi provides disability evaluations for veterans through Veterans Evaluation Services (VES). At this time, the VA and VES have not approved psychological evaluations to be conducted through telehealth. Should the use of telehealth procedures be approved, we will work with VES to schedule these evaluations.

Currently-scheduled appointments

Dr. Manfredi will be reaching out to all currently-scheduled clients and patients (or their parents) to discuss options for modified testing and/or rescheduling. We are also looking into ways to expand our hours and availability when we are able to reopen in order to ensure that we can reschedule in a timely manner.

Continued service offerings 

Our office will continue to provide the current services via telehealth platforms:

  • Professional consultation: Consultation with other practitioners or organizations. Consultations include, but are not limited to: consultation regarding diagnosis and assessment, assessment-based service delivery and clinical practice, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), accommodating individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, program development and evaluation, and staff training. Rate: $175/hour
  • IEP/Prior assessment review and consultation: Dr. Manfredi is available to review IEPs and previous evaluations and make clinical recommendations. Rate: $175/hour for review of materials and consultation
  • Record/Documentation Review: Dr. Manfredi is available to review clinical documentation for legal/forensic cases, disability reviews, or other matters. Please contact the office to discuss further. Rate: varies depending on the nature of the review

Disclaimer

We are living in an unprecedented time and our staff is doing our best to continue to serve our clients and patients while also adopting new procedures. We appreciate your patience with us through this transition period. Additionally, because some of these are new procedures for us, we cannot guarantee, nor do we promise, that evaluation results conducted remotely will be accepted by school districts, court systems, Social Security/Disability, Veterans Administration, etc. In fact, it is likely that these organizations will also be grappling with a new reality and their policies may change. We will attempt to keep up-to-date on changing policies of our referral sources and will do our best to meet their requirements. If you need an evaluation for a specific purpose, such as a disability claim or special education eligibility, please discuss your options with Dr. Manfredi. In some cases, we may recommend waiting until evaluations can be conducted in-person, as we do not want to put our clients in the position of completing an evaluation that cannot be used for the intended purpose.

Thank you for your continued support of our business. We look forward to continuing to provide our clients and patients with the highest levels of integrity and professionalism during these uncertain times. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions that you may have or visit our website for additional information on our practice. We hope that you and your families stay safe and well during this crisis.